Destiny Revealed
by Digi-Dolphin
Summary: Seq. Forgotten Wonder. Caleb comes across a strange egg that leads him to a new race of creatures that need saving, a brand new friend, and the first steps to a grand new quest to save the world in a whole new way.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Again, this is to stall until Heart of a Child is prepped for upload- as no one in my place will let me get the only copy of it back. Well, sorry for the short first chap, everything looks longer in Doc format. BTW, I'm going to attempt merging Caleb's stories with Lloyd, Zelos and Kratos' stories to create one huge adventure at the end of it all. If I fail, it will be SPECTACULAR!

* * *

It wasn't widely known that the Sorcerer's Ring was a dwarven-crafted artifact, or that there were two of them in the whole world. The one most used by the Heroes of Union was the one found in the Martel Temple near Iselia. The Tethe'allan counterpart was stowed in a safe within the Martel Cathedral in Meltokio. It also wasn't public knowledge that the gem set in both rings were mana crystals, pulled from deep within the earth and traumatized so they would be affected readily by the mana around them. Thus the reason why ring reactors could be found in many areas of Sylvarant and Tethe'alla; they were what tuned the mana crystals to the specific type of mana output that would be best suited to the environment. The creation of the two rings had been incredibly difficult, even for Cruxis' dwarven force working day and night to forge them.

Which explained Altessa's current mood in a nutshell.

"Blasted crystal!" the dwarf bellowed as another of the tiny gems shattered into dust. The tool had been set too high to properly tune the mana crystal. He sighed, checked his inventory of the crystals, then called out for Caleb. The automatic doll jogged in with a smile, cheerful as always and still clad in the same green outfit that had been heavily modified from Tabatha's old clothes.

"Here I am! I'm making a nice cordon bleu with a tasty sauce for lunch. I can't wait for you to try it!" Caleb remarked brightly, red hair tied back with a frayed green ribbon, the same one he wore a few months ago on a quest to save the world from certain hunger. Altessa raised an eyebrow questioningly, then harrumphed.

"Wren sent you that recipe, right?" he grumbled. Caleb only smiled wider. "I need you to go to NeOzette and pick up a few new blocks of material for my projects." the dwarf told him and gave him a small sack of gald to work with. "If there's anything left, buy something for yourself. I suggest a travel pack."

"A... travel pack?" Caleb echoed in confusion as he took the money. Altessa waved a hand in dismissal.

"Go on and get started! I haven't got all the time in the world to be hammering on old metals to get this crafted!" he added loudly, pushing the doll out of his workshop, "Get out, get out!" Caleb waved his arms, trying to keep from falling over as he found himself being shoved all the way to the front door.

"W-wait! But... lunch!" he protested.

"I'll finish it! Get going!"

Caleb blinked as the door was shut and looked around himself in confusion. What was going on? Since returning from his adventure with Wren, known to all others as simply the Wonder Chef, Altessa had been working almost feverishly on several things. One involved an Elemental Cargo that had been abandoned on the shore near Sybak, another seemed to be centered around the new Sorcerer's Ring Altessa was trying to forge. What was the dwarf planning to do with an EC and a mana crystal ring?

"Strange." the doll muttered and headed for the Elemental Carriage.

* * *

NeOzette had a similar layout to the old Ozette, but was in the midst of doing a village wide renovation to include half-elves among the populace. It was part of Colette's teachings to learn to accept those of another race, and since Colette was such a sweet girl -not to mention she knew Judgment and wasn't afraid to use it- the town tried its best to accept the idea of half-elves living with them.

Caleb had parked the carriage and headed out to search for the materials Altessa wanted. He already knew which ones to look for, the list had long been input into his memory and could be called up at any time. The doll liked sorting through the information he had, sometimes surprising himself with how much he knew and could remember. The local blacksmith already knew him and his routine, and only pointed towards the back without looking up from his work.

"Meltokio steel price went down. Half-elves are teaching others to mass produce the stuff." he added as an afterthought. Caleb thanked him, then went on to collect the blocks of material. He checked the amount of gald he had and smiled brightly.

"Well, Master Altessa did say I could buy something for myself. I wonder what's in the market for an automatic doll with a soul?" he remarked and strolled off.

The market was the center of commerce for NeOzette and today it bustled more than ever. People were gathered around booths and stalls, shouting out deals and offers, waving products around. Caleb looked over a table full of ribbons before finally deciding to purchase a blank journal for himself and a book of recipes. The book itself took a large amount of gald to buy, as printing was still a relatively new technology for Symphonia on the whole. At least it was cheaper than a scripted copy. Loud shouts and declarations about a new food drew his attention and he followed the sounds to its source. There was a group of people standing on a podium not far from him, holding up what appeared to be very large eggs. A crowd was listening to the speech being given about the remarkable new food item that was put out for sale.

"These delectable, delightful eggs are fit for a king, but we are generous enough to begin selling them right here in NeOzette to all of you wonderful people!" the pitchman declared enthusiastically. "So hurry on up and buy a few! You won't be disappointed!"

"What kind of eggs are they?" one woman yelled out. The announcer cradled one large white egg in his arm and waved his free hand.

"The most **de**-li-cious eggs in the whole world! Full of goodness and flavor!" he answered brightly, easily avoiding a real response.

"How do ya cook one?" another man in the crowd shot out. Two of the salesmen looked at each other in rising concern. Caleb joined the crowd in curiosity, maneuvering his way to the front to examine the eggs more closely. They were the size of an infant, and came in a variety of colors. The pale green ones appealed to him most, as did the soft pink eggs that were clustered nearby. In all he could guess at roughly two dozen eggs in the cart that was parked right by the podium.

"Just like any other egg! It's easy!" the pitchman went on and noticed Caleb's intense study of the batch. "You there! Young man in the green suit!" Caleb blinked and looked up at the man, pointing at himself in confusion. "Yes, sirrah! Are you a cook?"

"Yes." the doll answered slowly, unsure of what was happening. The pitchman shoved the white egg he'd been holding into Caleb's arms. "Wha-!"

"On the house, man! Cook it up and give it a try! Then everyone will know how great these eggs are!" the man declared and returned to pitching for the crowd. Caleb hugged the egg, stammered a thanks in confusion and left quickly.

"How do I get myself into these messes?" Caleb wondered aloud as he made his way back to the Elemental Carriage. He tossed the supplies into the back of the carriage and decided to take another good look at his new egg. It was very warm, that much he could sense after taking a temperature reading with his fingertips. "Must have been out in the sun all day." he commented and climbed into the driver's side seat. Pulling off his jacket, Caleb wrapped the egg with it and set it beside him in hopes of not cracking the shell on the way home.

"I suppose I could practice making an omelet the size of my head." he remarked as he began heading back to the cave.


	2. Chapter 2

Altessa stared at the egg in Caleb's hands for a good long while before looking up at the doll.

"Don't forget the pepper." he remarked and headed back into his workshop with the materials. The doll frowned and turned his attention back to the egg.

"I don't know about this. The egg should have gone cold by now. Why is it still so warm?" he muttered and tapped on the shell. Something inside the egg shifted and Caleb nearly dropped the egg in surprise. "What the-! There's something _alive_ in this! Master Altessa!"

"What now!" the dwarf grumbled as Caleb hurried in after him.

"This egg! There's something alive in it! I tapped the shell and something moved inside!" the doll blurted out. Altessa sniffed as he went back to work on tuning another crystal.

"It must be your imagination." he grumbled. Caleb studied the egg carefully.

"Can I try to hatch it?" he asked, "I want to see what kind of egg this is. Maybe it shouldn't be sold by those men in NeOzette."

"Do as you like, just stay out of my workshop! There's a lot of energy moving through here that could damage you!" Altessa ordered.

Caleb grabbed a mana crystal from his own personal supply and found a wooden crate full of straw from his last trip to Sybak. He put the egg in and set the mana crystal beside it, letting the warmth of the gem seep into the egg. He sat before it and watched with a smile. This was kind of exciting!

"I wonder what kind of creature it is. Maybe a big bird, or a reptile no one's seen before!" he murmured to himself and propped his cheeks on his hands, waiting. "I wonder how long it will take to hatch."

He waited and watched until it was time for dinner, and he made a quick meal of riceballs for the dwarf before returning to look after the egg. Night wore on and Altessa remained in his shop. Caleb didn't notice, nor did he go to bed himself. He stayed beside the fireplace the whole night, watching the egg and moving the crystal around to warm the egg evenly. In the morning Caleb stopped his watch to make breakfast for Altessa, lectured the dwarf on staying up so long, then returned to looking after his new charge.

As Caleb played mother hen to the strange egg, Altessa finished tuning the small mana crystal at last and turned to forging the ring that would be its setting. The new Sorcerer's Ring would be one of several items he would be handing down to the doll for use. There wasn't much time left for the dwarf to lose. Once the ring was done, Altessa would start work on refitting the Elemental Cargo for use on the water and restructuring the engine to work without the Exsphere needed to move mana through the conduits.

The days stretched on in this way, Altessa confined to his workroom and busy with repairs and remodeling, and Caleb guarding the egg in the box. Finally, just as the doll was ready to admit there was really nothing special about the egg, the shell began to crack.

"Master Altessa! It's hatching! Come quick!" the doll cried, leaping up in surprise and happiness. The dwarf hesitated at his work, then decided to indulge the doll and joined him in watching the egg crack open. The shell broke away in pieces and Caleb leaned forward excitedly to see what would emerge.

A white beak-like muzzle poked through, followed by a small head shaped like a cat's, green eyes peering out at the doll. Caleb blinked in confusion as the creature continued to squirm free of the eggshell. It was the size of a small cat and completely covered in thick white fur with red sealpoints on its ears and limbs, pale cream-colored scales that ran from the top of its neck down to the base of its tail. Its ears were small and pulled back on its head, though that looked as if it was normal for the creature. It had fine tufts of hair along its cheeks and on its head, and a long tail that curled and swayed around it. Small paws curled under its body, but Caleb could see it looked very much like an odd cat.

"It's not a bird or a reptile." Caleb murmured blankly.

"Doesn't look good to eat either. Even if you added pepper." the dwarf added. "What is that thing?"

"I don't know. But I guess I'll call it Pepper." Caleb remarked and reached into the box to lift the creature, "I don't know whether it's a male or female, so Pepper seems like a pretty generic name for it." The 'cat' made an odd sound, somewhere between a chirp and a squeak, and nuzzled Caleb's hand. "Seems nice enough. What do I feed it?" the doll asked and looked slightly panicked, "What _does_ it eat? What foods are safe for this thing? How much do I feed it? Ah! Master Altessa! Help!"

"You're on your own for this one, Caleb!" Altessa called as he vanished back into his workroom. Caleb stood with the creature in his arms, still panicking.

"That's not fair! What am I gonna do!" he wailed and hurried into the kitchen to try to find something for his new pet. The 'cat' chirp-squeaked again and wriggled in his arms. Setting the creature down on a table, Caleb began to pull out all the different fruits and meats he had on hand. "Chicken? Apples? Carrots? Fish?" he asked himself and checked off each one on a mental checklist as presenting the foods to Pepper resulted in a sniff and a whining squawk of refusal. Cabinets were opened, storerooms emptied and a mess of food littered the table and counters as Caleb tried everything in the house. Pepper refused it all.

"Do you eat grass or leaves?" the doll questioned aloud and hurried outside to check. Pepper watched him run out, then looked up at one opened cabinet that hadn't been completely emptied. It lit up in pleasure and made a leap for the counter below it.

After grabbing a handful of grass and leaves from a short jog away, Caleb returned to the kitchen and blinked. Pepper was no longer on the table. Frantically, he searched the kitchen until he heard a squeak of annoyance and frustration. Caleb looked up at the cabinet and spotted the creature trying to mouth a large, strange fruit.

"Hey! That's Mana Fruit! What are you doing with that?" the doll exclaimed. Mana Fruit grew on the Yggdrasill Tree and was part of Martel's new idea of spreading mana throughout the land. At times, she would gather up several bushels of the fruit and send them to churches all around the world with orders to pass them on to the people. Her hope was that the fruit would either be eaten by those who would benefit most from the concentrated mana supply in the fruit or it would be buried and allowed to leech its stores into the earth. She often gave a few fruits to Caleb each time he dropped by for a visit.

The Mana Fruit was unusual-looking, a large apple-like fruit covered in soft fuzz with an iridescent quality to it. It seemed to sparkle as the colors swirled and shifted on its surface. Caleb had no idea what he was supposed to do with the fruit, but he accepted each gift thankfully and stored it safely on a shelf.

Now Pepper was attempting to swallow one whole.

"Stop that!" Caleb cried and pulled down the creature. It cried loudly and struggled as he checked the fruit for damage. "These aren't meant to be eaten, right?" He set Pepper back down and cocked his head in thought. If the creature went out of its way to go after this fruit and didn't react to anything else, then perhaps it fed off of the fruit of the Mana Tree. Shrugging, Caleb took a small knife and cut the fruit into manageable chunks. Pepper devoured the pieces happily. "I guess that's what you eat." the doll remarked with a grin, "I'll remember that."

The creature squeaked contentedly and closed its eyes as its body lit up with a soft glow. Stepping back in confusion, Caleb watched as it grew rapidly to a larger size, small nubs that had protruded from its back now forming small wings that spanned out the length of the animal. They flapped uncertainly, then folded down, the white feathers rustling a bit as they settled. Large enough to be confused with a full grown cat, but no longer easily overlooked due to the wings, Pepper yawned once, clacked happily, then curled up and fell asleep.

"It's not a cat, either." Caleb muttered and checked it off the list of possible animals in his head.

Pepper slept off the effects of the Mana Fruit for the rest of the day. For a couple of days afterwards, it consented to eating other foods, mostly fruits and vegetation. When it grew picky about its meals, Caleb gave it another Mana Fruit. It squawked loudly until it was given another. Again it transformed and became the size of a small dog. At this point, Pepper's teeth began growing in and Caleb found himself searching for a safe object for it to chew on, as everything in the house was made of stone. A clean rag tied in a knot served as a toy and Pepper enjoyed itself by gnawing on the cloth. Caleb examined it carefully one day and discovered to his pleasant surprise that Pepper was female, renaming it Peppermint on the spot. He continued to call her Pepper, as she had grown used to the name. Each time Pepper refused her normal meal of fruit cocktail, Caleb would feed her Mana Fruit, noting with a certain alarm that the number of fruits she would need to change again was growing steadily higher. He was running out of fruit.

When Pepper was the size of a rather large dog, she grew her claws, large red claws that she sharpened often on the walls of the cave until Caleb led her outside and showed her the trees. Altessa was not pleased with having to repair the damage to his house. The ring had been finished, the EC was almost done and he still had one more major project to undertake before everything was set. He didn't have time to deal with Caleb's pet.

"Pepper! Toy!" Caleb called out and tossed her new ball towards the field outside, not far from the house. He had fun carrying her around when Pepper was small, but now she was big enough to walk on her own, often trotting happily beside him everywhere he went. When Caleb made trips to Sybak or NeOzette, Pepper followed along, often drawing attention from people as they stopped to stare at the strange animal wandering the town with him. Children liked her and often pet her or gave her fruit treats that easily bought her affection. Caleb had gotten a long green sash and a large brass bell, stringing it on the sash and then tying it around Pepper's neck as a collar. She loved it, often running in the fields for the sake of hearing it ring loudly at her neck.

Pepper chased after the toy, wings flapping about crazily as if trying to lift off into the air. She snagged it in her mouth and pranced back to Caleb, clacking with quick movements of her tongue as she returned the ball.

Her next transformation was to a size somewhat smaller than Noishe, Lloyd's pet arshis. It was then that Altessa suggested that a separate pen be built to house her, as Pepper was now too big to fit comfortably within the cave. Caleb set to work building one into the cave wall, borrowing some of Altessa's tools to carve out a stall for the creature. Pepper balked at the idea of living in a room separate from Caleb, so he opened up part of the wall between her pen and his room. The resulting stall wasn't exceptionally neat, but it served its purpose. Altessa examined it himself, then gruffly admitted that Caleb needed better instruction on stonework. It would take too long to teach the doll himself, so Altessa sent him to Sybak to purchase reading material on the matter. It wouldn't equal the handiwork of a dwarf, but at least Altessa wouldn't be completely embarrassed by anything Caleb hobbled together out of stone or wood.

Pepper's next change took her to a pony-sized level, and her wings began flapping madly each time she ran around outside. Her muzzle had grown short whiskers, elongated to form a snout, and her tufts of hair had lengthened enough to frame her head cutely. Caleb watched and encouraged her as Pepper began trying to fly, but she could never seem to get off the ground. Each time she tried and failed she would walk up to Caleb, ears pulled downward in disappointment and her posture similar to a slump.

"That's okay. Practice helps anyway." Caleb assured her and gave her an apple to cheer her up.

It was then that the doll realized he had run out of Mana Fruit and Altessa was working furiously on something that looked like parts meant for himself. Confused and in need of someone to talk to, Caleb decided to go and visit his sister.

"I'll be back soon, Master Altessa!" he called out as Pepper leaped happily into the back of the Elemental Carriage, chirping and whistling excitedly. He didn't receive an answer, which was to be expected given his preoccupation, and shrugged. They set out towards the Yggdrasill Tree.

* * *

Pepper poked her head through the open window into the driver's compartment and clacked cheerfully, large paws curled under her chin as she looked out at the forest Caleb drove through. He reached out and rubbed her chin affectionately.

"Almost there, Pepper. Then you can meet my sister and have all the Mana Fruit you can eat!" he told her with a smile. Pepper clacked again eagerly, tail thumping the walls of the carriage as it swished back and forth.

The forest was thick and lush, and the shadow of the Yggdrasill Tree covered much of it. The Mana Tree's canopy could be seen from NeOzette on a clear day and some claimed they could see clouds of shimmering color spread from it out across the sky. This tree was under the protection of both the Goddess Martel and the Heroes of Union, as Lloyd Irving Aurion, the wielder of the Eternal Sword, had made a pact with Martel to keep the tree from withering away again. Martel had taken Tabatha for a vessel and, in doing so, became Caleb's older sister.

"Martel! Sis! I came by to show you a new friend of mine!" Caleb greeted cheerfully as he stepped out of the carriage. The tree seemed to shimmer as a figure formed at its base. Slender and pretty, carrying a winged staff as a symbol of her identity, Martel stepped forward to receive her guest. She smiled as Caleb hurried to the back of the carriage.

"Ah, Caleb. It's good to see you, especially under the circumstances. I've been having a dreadful time trying to find out..." she began and paused in surprise as Pepper leaped out of the carriage and bounded her way. "Ah!"

"Don't be afraid! She's really nice! Her name's Peppermint, but I just call her Pepper." Caleb explained and hurried to join them, holding out an apple for the creature. "I hatched her from an egg I got in NeOzette."

"That's what's been happening to those eggs? They're being sold to people in cities?" Martel murmured and shook her head. "Why would anyone want to buy a mana beast egg at this time? There's not enough of them to begin interacting with people yet!" Caleb blinked at her.

"A what?" he asked. Martel waved her hand towards Pepper.

"She's a mana beast, and a young one, too. She must have been stolen from her nest recently." the goddess answered, "I have been trying to find out what's been happening to the eggs."

"What's a mana beast?" Caleb repeated, still lost as Pepper bounced around the meadow joyfully, oblivious to the crumbling remains of the Tower of Salvation that served to form the clearing and the protective barrier around the Yggdrasill Tree.

"Long ago, before the Kharlan War, when the Kharlan Tree grew lush and strong, the Summon Spirits of the land and I all created a species of creature to help spread mana around the world. These were the mana beasts, creatures of magic and mana." Martel told him, "When the war began draining the world of mana, the mana beasts began to die, even as they continued trying to replenish mana to the world. The last one gave his life to the Kharlan Tree in hopes of ensuring it would survive the war." She sighed and looked perturbed, "I only recently had the Summon Spirits help me revive the mana beasts and now someone is stealing the eggs before they can hatch!"

"So Pepper is a mana beast? And there's more of them?" Caleb tried to understand what was going on. Martel nodded.

"Come with me. I'll show you. And bring Pepper, too. Her family needs to know she's safe." she told him and walked around the tree to another part of the meadow.

Behind the massive tree was what Caleb could only describe as a village of nests, each one holding several colored eggs all in a batch to keep warm. Standing over the nests were many large creatures that looked similar to Pepper, but with different colors and features that made them each unique. A good majority of the mana beasts were very large, almost three times Noishe's size. One of them could easily pick up the arshis by the scruff of its neck if it wanted to. The rest of the mana beasts were very young, dog-sized, and played happily together near the adults. Martel walked among them and the mana beasts would pause what they did to acknowledge her presence before resuming what they were doing, be it guarding children, warming eggs, or getting ready to leave the community themselves. Caleb walked after her, followed by Pepper, who looked around herself with wide eyes. She spotted the hatchlings in their group play and clacked loudly before dashing off to join them, bell ringing brightly as she did.

"Pepper!" Caleb called out in concern, then blinked as Martel's arm shot out before him, preventing him from going further. "Huh? Martel?" She only looked ahead, pointing forward with the head of her staff. Two of the adult mana beasts were walking towards the group of hatchlings, an aura of deep concern radiating from them. One was dark red and orange, intimidatingly large, with sharp eyes and a frown on its face. The other mana beast was slightly smaller, pure white and shimmering, with deeply intelligent eyes and a vaguely confused face. They stopped at the hatchlings and watched Pepper romp about with the other mana beasts. The young had been startled at first by Pepper's sudden appearance and her bell, but warmed up to her as she bounded back and forth, clacking an invitation to play. Soon, they had all joined together in a game as if she'd always been one of their playmates.

The white mana beast cooed strangely, an echo of a sound that made Caleb suddenly think of a motherly figure. The younglings paused in their play and looked up at Pepper. She flicked her ears once, but otherwise ignored the sound. The white mana beast frowned slightly, then cooed again. Once more the image of a motherly shadow bloomed in Caleb's mind, but it felt more reinforced. He shook his head.

"It's a projection. She is of the Ascension clan of the mana beasts, graced with light and psychic power and an intelligence that is unmatched by the others. The other is of the FireBlossom clan, filled with the passion and fury of fire and all its destructive strength." Martel whispered, "They are Pepper's mother and father."

Pepper shook her head and ignored the call again. This time, the red mana beast growled and stepped forward, grabbing up Pepper by the scruff of her neck and taking her back to the white mana beast. Pepper squawked and screeched, kicking her legs and struggling to get free. Caleb fought the urge to run after her as the two beasts set her down and Pepper was pinned gently under the red's massive paw. Both adults then studied her carefully before sniffing at her. Pepper continued to wail angrily.

"They are searching for a similar scent, something about her to see if she is theirs." Martel went on.

After a few sniffs, the pair of beasts pulled their heads back in surprise, then clacked happily before launching into a string of strange chirps and whistles, mixed with a variety of sounds Caleb couldn't identify. Pepper stilled and seemed to listen, confusion and impatience on her face as she glanced over at the other hatchlings randomly. When the red lifted its paw, she sat up and began squawking back, also using the sounds they had. After a few minutes of listening to her, the two mana beasts looked over at Caleb sharply. The doll blinked and stiffened as they walked towards him and Martel.

"Now what?" he whispered to his sister.

"They have told Pepper who and what she is, and how she came to be taken from her family here. And in turn, Pepper has told them all about herself and her life with you." Martel answered, "She has told them that you are her mother now." Caleb blinked and stepped back in shock.

"_Me!_ But I can't be a mother! I only hatched and raised her! Besides, I'm a male model! I can pretend to be Daddy, but not Mommy!" he exclaimed as Martel closed her eyes, trying to maintain a patient, peaceful aura.

"The hair doesn't help, Caleb." she muttered.

The two beasts stopped before the doll and studied him carefully as well. The white beast, Pepper's mother, sniffed delicately at him, then chirped and clacked softly before nuzzling his cheek as a sign of thanks and greeting. The red sniffed at him, then gave him a stern look, grumbling in his throat.

"He wants to know what you were doing with a mana beast egg." Martel translated. Pepper trotted up and sat beside the doll, rubbing her cheek against his arm. Caleb smiled at her, then faced the red with a new courage.

"I was given an egg in NeOzette by a group of men and women who were selling many more eggs of different colors. Eggs that look just like the ones in the nests here. I took it home and discovered that something lived in the egg. So I used a mana crystal to hatch it and Pepper was born." he told the red and folded his arms over his chest, "I raised her with my supply of Mana Fruit, I gave her love, I played with her, I treated her as a friend and equal. I did all I could to ensure she was happy, healthy and knew she was loved. I do not wish to be called 'Mother' or 'Master' or anything of the sort. I want to be known as her friend, someone she could trust and count on to be there when she needs a caring person." Pepper clacked loudly and nuzzled hard enough to push Caleb over, effectively ruining any sort of dramatic impact to his words. "Pepper!" he exclaimed with a sigh before shaking his head and stroking the fur of her snout. Pepper's mother looked straight into his eyes with an intense gaze, and he felt a strange tingling sensation course through him. She then whistled softly to her mate and the tingling left Caleb. The two mana beasts looked at each other for a moment, then called out to the community in their strange language.

"They are making an announcement." Martel murmured, "'The non-human creature called Caleb has raised the one known as Peppermint from hatchling to young. He wishes to be called friend. Do the clans agree to this?'" Caleb looked out at the myriad of adults and hatchlings as they looked at him, then called back in a series of squawks and whistles. "The clans all agree. You are now friend to the mana beasts." Martel summed up the calls with a smile. "I'm glad for that. It's been over four thousand years since the mana beasts have considered anyone other than me and a few select people to be friends. This is a step in the right direction."

"I'm glad for that, but what about Pepper? She needs to learn things I can't teach her, like flying and what her powers are! I don't want to keep her confined to the ground and once she gets to be big enough..." Caleb exclaimed, then trailed uncertainly, "She'll have to come back here and join her kind..." Martel gazed evenly at him. "I was afraid of this, deep inside. I never imagined I would find others like her. I always thought she would stay with me."

The mana beasts called to Pepper, this time with a different tone of voice and she eagerly bounded towards them. Martel lifted her staff to the tree and dozens of Mana Fruit were shaken loose, floating down towards her as the hatchlings bounced her way joyfully. Pepper listened to what her parents had to say, then raced back to join the feast.

"With this feeding, the hatchlings will become young and Pepper will become large and strong enough to learn to fly." Martel told Caleb, "All mana beasts, when they are born, eat Mana Fruit to grow and develop. Once they've reached adulthood, they are able to eat other foods on their own and no longer need the Mana Fruit unless they are ill or injured." She placed a few fruits in his hands. "Feed Pepper. She trusts you most." With that, Martel began feeding the Mana Fruits to each of the hatchlings by hand, meeting each eager young creature with a smile and gentle words. Caleb blinked and held one out to Pepper, who chomped down on it happily. He fed her the rest and watched her finish munching away on the fruits.

As a group, the hatchlings all transformed, growing in size as they developed strength to their wings. Pepper was the size of a pony and flapped her wings harder, exercising them and clacking cheerfully. The adult mana beasts walked up to her and spoke softly. She cheered and scampered off with them.

"They're going to show her what she needs to know." Martel told Caleb as the other young mana beasts returned to their nests to sleep, "While that goes on, will you help me find out who is robbing the nests? These mana beasts are so few in number that they are forced to leave their nests unattended while they spread mana from the tree to the world." The two of them walked over to sit by the trunk of the Mana Tree. Martel straightened her robe as she sat on one of the roots and sighed. "Several dozen eggs have been stolen over the last few mating seasons. We feared that they were being taken by predators for food, but what you have told me is very grave news. If people are buying these eggs without realizing what they contain, then there could be any number of mana beast young suffering out there." Caleb closed his eyes and looked slightly pained.

"Martel, I don't think there are any others like Pepper out in the world. The men and women who gave me the egg were selling them as food for cooking. To be honest, I almost cooked Pepper's egg myself. I didn't because I felt her move within the egg and I wanted to see what it was that laid such a large egg." he said quietly, "If anyone else got mana beast eggs, it's a very high percentage that all of them died while in others' hands. I'm sorry, Martel." He looked up and watched sadly as the goddess looked back at him tearfully.

"I trust your words, even though I hoped you wouldn't say anything that would dash my hopes of others returning." she murmured and wiped away her tears, "I will pray for their guidance back to the tree, the source of all mana. For now, we must find a way to stop the raids and hopefully recover any eggs that weren't sold."

"I can help guard the nests!" Caleb suggested brightly, "Since I never sleep and never get tired, I can stand watch over the nests while the mana beasts are out. Pepper can help, too! Then, we'll be able to find out when and how those people are stealing the eggs!" Martel smiled at him.

"Would you do this, truly?" she asked. Caleb nodded eagerly. "All right then. I'll tell the clans about what you plan to do." she remarked and closed her eyes, sending out a mental message to the mana beasts. "There. It is done." Martel said and placed her hand delicately on Caleb's shoulder, "You are doing us a great service, and your friendship is greatly appreciated. Had you been created during Lloyd's quest, I'm sure you would have easily become the tenth Hero of Union. You have that much good intent within you." She grinned mysteriously. "In fact, at one point in time, you _were_ the tenth companion."

"Uh, thanks." Caleb murmured in confusion at those words. He thought back to his brief time with the group on Derris-Kharlan and made the assumption that his sister meant that point of time. He nodded slowly. "I'll head home to tell Master Altessa what I'm going to be doing, then I'll come right back." the doll added. Martel shook her head.

"Allow me to deliver the message in person. I can travel much faster than you can." she remarked and vanished in a burst of green shimmering light. Caleb blinked and looked out at the mana beasts, watching with a smile as Pepper made attempts at flying, mimicking the adults' motions of wings and legs as she leaped about the clearing. Whether she was making any actual progress or not was lost on everyone, they only knew that she was greatly enjoying herself and strengthening her wings at the same time. Soon enough, she would fly. Martel returned a moment later and smiled. "He was rather startled but asked how I was doing and wished us both luck in this quest. Also, he mentioned that he appreciated the time alone, as he had a great deal of work that he needs to do." Caleb looked stung.

"That's something I wanted to talk to you about as well. Martel, I don't know what's happening with Master Altessa. He's been working an awful lot lately and he seems to be drawing away from me. Does he not like me anymore? Am I no longer useful to him?" he murmured in worry, sounding as if he was on the brink of anguish. "It's because I have a soul now, isn't it? I'm not often disobedient, but it's so hard to not have my own opinions of things now!"

"No, it isn't like that." Martel told him comfortingly, "If you like, I can use my powers to look ahead into your future and see what may happen to you. I'm sure Altessa means no harm and hasn't grown cold towards you." Caleb wrung his hands and sighed, shaking his head.

"Thank you, but I think I should face my future as it comes. I don't mean to doubt your power or refuse it, but I feel as though knowledge of the future taints it for those who will live it. That's why Lloyd refuses to use the Eternal Sword to see either past or future, and keeps his gaze on the present." he finally answered as Pepper trotted up to nuzzle him. "Hello, Pepper! Did you have fun?" he managed to say brightly. The young mana beast clacked softly and rested her head on his lap, looking very sleepy. Martel smiled.

"I'll set up camp for you. Both of you should get some rest. We have much to do if we are to stop those raiders." she murmured and left to speak with the clans for their help in building a temporary home for the two friends. She closed her eyes as she walked away, searching the future for what fate would befall her younger brother. After a moment, she opened them with a surprised look. "Dear brother, your time in service to Altessa is almost at an end! What will become of you once that time closes?" she whispered.


	3. Chapter 3

Ch 3

Each day since then was spent watching Pepper learn to fly and speak from the adult mana beasts. Caleb began to learn about the creatures himself. He learned how to tell clans apart, what each clan was, which Summon Spirit created them, and which regions each one delivered mana to. The language was still far beyond his reach for the moment, but he caught onto the meaning of many of their actions and body language. The FireBlossom clan was created by Efreet, and was the clan Pepper belonged to since her father was a FireBlossom. Her mother was of the Ascension clan, created by Luna and Aska. The green eggs that appealed to Caleb were indicative of the GaleForce clan, the clan created by the Sylphs and the best teachers when it came to flying. The darkest colored clan were the Wraiths, created by Shadow. Most of them were similar to Shadow's mentality, though he often found one pure black mana beast with its head in a tree trunk. Martel said it claimed to be gaining a higher level of union with nature. The older Wraith clan mana beasts simply ignored it in favor of saving some face.

The pale blues were of the IceWind clan, created by Celsius to withstand the freezing temperatures of Flanoir. Undine's clan was the Tempest clan, and they loved water to the point of near obsession. The lavenders and indigo-colored mana beasts of the ThunderBurst clan were of Volt's creation, and their short spiky fur sometimes crackled with stored static. Caleb had to be careful to avoid them as a group, as too much of their mana could crack the crystal in his body. He had a good laugh over the MudPuppy clan, created and named by Gnome. They were all good-natured and made fun of themselves as often as others. Though easy-going in nature, they could be the most ferocious of the clans when angered, and were touted as the strongest physically of all the clans. They contained the mana of earth, and as long as they stayed in contact with the earth they were truly a force to face.

Caleb watched over the nests each time the adults left to spread mana over the world, a duty they had performed before the Kharlan War and were now performing again. He watched with interest as the mothers dug up stones from the wreckage of the Tower of Salvation, infused them with their own mana, and then placed them among the eggs and covered the lot with grasses and leaves to keep them all warm during their absence. Pepper spent her time alternately playing with the other young mana beasts and sitting by Caleb to keep him company, sending tentative images of cuddling and hugs to his mind, then clacking happily when he received them with a smile and stroked her snout. Being part Ascension and part FireBlossom, Pepper had powers from both clans, though she excelled more in the psychic and light powers of the Ascension clan. There were light influences of FireBlossom in her, as she often toyed with the flames of Caleb's campfires, making them leap into the air and dance for her. She could breath short bursts of flame, not enough to come close to the flaming breaths of a pure FireBlossom, but enough to startle anyone she chose to warm with it and start a campfire of her own at Caleb's request.

Caleb noticed that Pepper would watch him carefully and mimic a few of his own actions, developing a body language he could readily understand better than those of the mana beasts. Pepper could shrug, shake her head, nod, cock her head, roll her eyes, place a paw over her eyes and prop her cheek on one paw when she lay down. She worked out how to smile, frown and pucker her lips in distaste. Batting her eyes and holding out a paw gracefully were things she learned from watching Martel, as she learned to toss her head and watch a cooking pot to see if the meal was done from Caleb.

The days rolled by and Caleb began to think that the raiders had given up on the nests. It wasn't until after the adults had all left, the hatchlings had wandered over to the Yggdrasill Tree in search of fallen Mana Fruit, and Pepper was dozing in her pen made of stone, that Caleb spotted a group of men and women creeping towards the nests with large sacks in hand. He gaped for a moment, then shook himself out of it and woke Pepper up.

"Wake up! Look! Those guys are the ones stealing the eggs! Go get Martel!" he whispered, "I'll follow them and see where they're taking the eggs. Maybe we can rescue all the other stolen mana beast eggs if we find their hideout!" Pepper leaped out of her pen and made a dash for the tree, wings flapping and helping her bound longer distances. Caleb snuck towards the group of raiders, keeping to the shadows of the trees and rubble as he watched them collect eggs from the nests. Once they had full sacks, the men and women began to hurry away into the forest. The doll darted out and began to follow them, maintaining a good distance from them and using his telescopic vision to keep them in sight.

The raiders came upon the Elemental Carriages they had brought to make their escape and placed the sacks of eggs inside them before hurrying into the driver's compartments. Caleb sped up and grabbed onto the back of one carriage, clinging to the doors as it raced off. He spent much of the trip mentally mapping out the area they drove through, looking around for anything he could use as a reference point or landmark. The only thing he could use was the Mana Tree in the distance and the sun's position in the sky. Caleb ran a few small calculations in his head and marked his general location in his mental map of Tethe'alla. It wasn't the most accurate map he had, but it would do for now. He leaped off the carriage when it stopped and hid in the brush, watching as the raiders unloaded their prizes and took them into a nearby cave.

"I hope we get paid soon. I'm _sick_ of waiting for my money and raiding those nests is creeping me out! How much longer can we press our luck before those monsters decide to eat us all!" one woman complained as she took her sack inside.

"Once we start selling these eggs in Sybak, we should be getting profits that will more than make up for all this." another woman remarked irritably, "So stop griping and just do your jobs. I didn't hire the lot of you to whine all day!" After a few minutes, the group returned from in the cave and got back into the carriages, empty-handed. "We'll start selling this batch in Sybak once we get more of these carriages. I don't want to have them recognized by those beasts and then spend time looking over my shoulder for them."

Caleb watched them leave and walked into the cave to see what was being stored with the eggs. Twin shafts of shimmering green-blue light from his eyes lit up the cave as he took in the sight of dozens of sacks, each containing who knew how many eggs. They were grouped together, propped up carefully to keep them from breaking. Caleb scanned the ground and bit his lip when he saw eggshells littering the cave floor. Some might have been close to hatching when they were taken and the young might have died of starvation soon after, alone and cold in the unattended cave. He checked the sacks again and found one of the eggs inside was wriggling, ready to hatch soon. Caleb collected it and left the cave, making his way back to the Yggdrasill Tree with the news of his discovery.

Martel met him halfway to the tree and used her power to make the earth where Caleb had walked glow with mana dust. Taking the egg into her care, she lifted her staff and transported the two of them back to safety. Pepper clacked upon seeing him return and bounced up to greet him as Martel carried the egg back to the nest and set it down. The adult mana beasts had returned to find the nests freshly raided and were in an uproar once more. To see that at least one had returned before hatching calmed them and the parents rushed forward to watch it emerge into the clan. The goddess presented a Mana Fruit to the newborn and gently squeezed the pulp and juice into its mouth. Once it was asleep, she returned to Caleb.

"Did you find the others?" she asked. Caleb nodded. "How many?"

"About thirty eggs, maybe more. I saw eggshells from those that might have hatched or were broken when they were left in a cave not far from here." he answered softly, "What happens to a mana beast when it dies?"

"They dissolve into mana and return to the tree, where they become part of the mana that will be spread to the world." Martel replied somberly and sat beside him on the ground, her staff laying across her lap. Pepper sensed the grief surrounding her two friends and curled around both Martel and Caleb, whining softly. "The other eggs can still be saved?"

"If we move fast and bring them all here with your power, yes. But without someone to keep them away from the nests permanently, they'll just keep coming back and steal more eggs." the doll sighed. "And I doubt I can do that. I'm one doll against a group of humans. It won't take much for them to eventually overpower me, even _with_ my superior strength."

"Pepper can't do the job, either. She's too young and they won't take her seriously. Plus, I don't want to risk her life. They think mana beasts are monsters that would sooner eat them than chase them away from the nests." Caleb added, "I'd hate to imagine what they would do to Pepper if they feel they have a chance at her." Martel nodded slowly.

"It does seem as though things are set against us." she muttered softly, "But not all of the mana beasts have been resurrected. There still is one left that could help us with this dilemma." Caleb blinked at her.

"If that's true, then why didn't you bring that one back in the first place?" he asked incredulously. Martel shrugged, a habit that she was picking up from Caleb.

"He was created by both Maxwell and Origin as a gift for me, to be my companion and act on my behalf when dealing with people and the other mana beasts." she told him, "When the Kharlan Tree began to die, he was the last to die with the loss of mana, and chose to send his mana and soul to the tree in attempts to keep it alive." She smiled sadly. "I've missed him since my revival. His name was Orator, and he had good reason to be called one as well. If we could bring back Orator, he could help us save the eggs and stop the raiders."

"How do we do that?" Caleb asked. Martel stood and looked skyward, her staff in her hand.

"I can summon Origin and Maxwell here to recreate Orator's body, and I can pull his soul and memories from the tree, but in order to link the soul and the body, I need to have a relic that holds his essence." she went on, "When Orator was alive, he wore around his neck a cord that held a small crest with the symbol of my staff on it. I had given him that crest as proof to the world that Orator was my hand when I could not appear. When he died, the crest was lost to me. And I've lost track of events when I was sealed in the Great Seed along with Mithos' sister Martel. I took her name only because my form is similar to hers and Tabatha's, and because she willingly gave her life to the tree in its last moments of life to produce the seed. When Tabatha gave me her body as a vessel, I also accepted her name."

"Oh, so I can call you Tabatha as well as Martel?" Caleb asked. Martel nodded and gazed out at the forest. "Well, if the crest was lost, how can we find it?"

"The Kharlan Tree stood here long ago, before the war. When it withered and Mithos split the world, the location of the crest was lost. I do know, however, that it had a greater chance of falling here, in Tethe'alla, rather than in Sylvarant, as the Holy Ground of Kharlan found in Sylvarant was named thus by Mithos to further the lies of the world regeneration project." Martel told him and waved her hand around, "This right here is the true Holy Ground of Kharlan, although that itself is also a misnomer, the result of Mithos' tampering with history to suit his desires."

"That's why crazy people shouldn't have the Eternal Sword."

"Search Tethe'alla for the crest of Orator, Caleb. It must be found if we are to save the mana beasts from extinction once again." Martel pleaded. The doll stood and nodded.

"I'll do what I can, Sis. Given how people think when it comes to anything found dating back to the Kharlan War, it would be best for me to search museums and other historical archives." he remarked and looked back at Pepper, who stood in eager readiness, "Pepper, I need you to stay here and continue learning about flying. I can't teach you anything you need to know and it would be faster for me if I traveled alone this time." Pepper whined in disappointment and tried to change his mind with cute tricks and over-affection. "Nope, not gonna work this time." Caleb told her sternly, "This could be a dangerous journey and I want you to stay safe. Stay here with Martel and your parents. Learn to fly! Once you can fly, then you can go out and track me down if you like, but not before!" Pepper whined again, but finally bent her head in agreement, then trotted off to forget her worries with a big pile of leaves that the adults had gathered to feed the young mana beasts.


	4. Chapter 4

Ch 4

The next morning, Caleb began his search for Orator's crest by making his way to Sybak. If the libraries and museum there didn't have it, then his next best bet would be the royal archive in the city of Meltokio. He hoped it was in Sybak, the trip to Meltokio would take several days at his fastest in the Elemental Carriage. The carriage was being pushed to its limit already, and Caleb could only imagine the amount of stress being placed on the mana crystal that powered it. He thought back on the adventures he had been in, both with Lloyd and the Heroes of Union to save the world from an insane couple of angels, and with the Wonder Chef to prevent a worldwide famine from being unleashed on Symphonia, and winced. If it hadn't been for DuGorge shattering his own mana crystal in the final attack within the Famine Temple, then the stress of running around everywhere to save people would have cracked it in two.

Gaoracchia Forest loomed ahead and Caleb muttered irritably under his breath. He knew how to get through it without getting lost, but that trip would kill a lot of time. Even with his ability to travel through the days and nights without rest, Caleb could still sense the passing of time like humans and found himself worrying about work that had yet to be finished when sundown neared. Having a soul and a mind with free will and thought had its downsides sometimes.

"Several hours at the least... I'll reach Sybak in three days at this pace." the doll murmured and gazed skyward at the mana beasts heading out to spread mana, "Sure wish I could fly, too. All the abilities and strength of an angel and I don't have the wings or magical power to back it up. Man..."

The wild animals of the forest kept their distance, fortunately, as Caleb only had enough on board ingredients to whip up a small pot of chili and fling it at a group of wolves. They remembered the last time a carriage came by with chili, and wisely chose to find less clever prey. Briefly, the doll wished for his over-sized steel soup spoon and old Lid Shield from his previous excursion. They would have slung the food further than the small spoon he had on hand.

"Hell, at this point I'd rather run off with the Wonder Fork and teleport to Sybak." Caleb grumbled as the tree limbs scraped and scratched at the sides of the Elemental Carriage.

The sun was sinking low in the sky when Caleb finally broke out of the forest onto the fields that lay between him and Sybak. The doll sighed unhappily, he must have lost a night and a good portion of a day getting from the Yggdrasill Tree to this point. Pressing onward, Caleb made a straight shot for Sybak, hoping he didn't run into anything along the way.

The fields of Altamira the continent were wide, grassy plains that served as the home to many wild animals, most of which left travelers alone unless they were really desperate for food, and a few roads that wound through them to small outlying towns and farmlands. Almost all travel to Altamira was done by ship, so major cities were founded on coastlines all along the continent. The Heroes of Union soared over everything on their Rheairds; Caleb mowed through grass and wheat in the Elemental Carriage.

"Sorry! Didn't mean to! You should have built a fence or something! Come on!" Caleb yelled out the window as he raced by a group of angry farmers waving pitchforks at him. He had just cut a messy path through their next harvest, which would account for a small price rise on bread and grain next time he went shopping and annoyed Wren slightly when he had to pay extra for a decent sandwich.

Sybak itself was busy as ever with school shopping being the top priority on everyone's minds. School supplies and books were being sold faster than they were manufactured, and chaos in the streets for the students meant chaos in the buildings for Caleb. The mask and hat he wore to towns were wilting under the heat of so many people all crowding and rushing around in panic.

"Ahh! That was the last printing of _Curative Properties of Mana Leaf Herb: Volume Two_! I need one before the end of the week!" Caleb could hear the voice of an old friend wail out.

"Poor Genis." the doll muttered as he ducked into the first library he found with an unbarricaded door. "Hey! I need some help! I'm looking for an artifact lost at the end of the Kharlan War!" Caleb shouted once he was in. The librarians hissed at him from behind their protective walls of books.

"Quiet! We're trying to look like we're closed!" they snapped.

"Sorry, but I'm not a student. I'm looking for an old crest. It had been lost in the Holy Ground of Kharlan when the peace treaty was formed." Caleb explained, "I really need to find it. It's a vital piece of, um, elven history!"

"Tch, and you think we'd know anything about it?" one woman said in annoyance as she pushed a stack of books aside to face him. Caleb shrugged.

"I thought you might. It's a crest, probably the size of a book, with the image of the staff of the Goddess Martel engraved on it." he added, "Does that ring a bell?" The librarians looked at each other, then stared at him.

"That thing? It was a piece of junk. Sure the design was nice, but there was no sign that it belonged to any culture or country. It was collected at the Holy Ground with all of the other artifacts in the archaeological dig years ago, but we shoved that in the back so many times." one man told him incredulously, "And here you are telling us it's elven in nature? It doesn't look elven."

"Well... it is! And I was sent here to get it and give it back!" Caleb declared, "Now, go in back and get it!"

"We don't have it. We gave it to the museum down the street to try to figure out." the female librarian told him. "Check there with Prof. Bethrum. He might know where it is now. I haven't seen it on display." Caleb thanked her and raced out. "I wonder what kind of a mask that was. It looked elvish, might even be early fashion from Meltokio..."

The Sybak History Museum of Tethe'alla wasn't as helpful as the library had been. The curators insisted they couldn't talk about artifacts that hadn't been identified, then said they needed a special form filled out to search for it, then special permission from the king to even look at it. Caleb tapped his foot impatiently as they did all they could to avoid calling for the professor.

"Look, it's just a crest with Martel's staff on it. I need it to complete a very important recreation of history. Elven history! Do you want to start another incident with the elves?" he growled. "Go in back and look for it! Or get Professor Bethrum to come up here and tell me where it is so I can go get it myself!"

"The Professor is a very busy man, and if you could just go to Meltokio and request a letter of permissions from the king..." the young curator rattled off. Caleb sighed and shook his head. He had hoped it wouldn't come to this...

Moving quickly, Caleb pulled off the large woven hat and his mask of stiff cloth, pulling his hair free of its bun and shaking his head enough to toss his hair wildly over his shoulders. He glared at the now gaping curator with flashing blue-green eyes.

"Do I _look_ like I need permission from the King of Tethe'alla to collect anything! I am the great Zelos Wilder, Chosen of Mana!" he yelled, hoping the shaking man didn't notice the faint metallic echo in his voice, "Either you get me that crest now, or I'll make sure you get visited by the _Third_ Coming of Spiritua!"

"Ch-Chosen One! Forgive me! I hadn't realized it was you!" the curator stammered in shock, "I'll get the Professor right away! He'll know where to find the crest!" With that, he ran off. Caleb fumed as he ignored the stares and whispers of the museum staff and jammed the hat back onto his head.

"I am sick of having to pretend to be an idiot." he muttered to himself. Minutes later, a bearded man with graying hair rushed up to him, puffing frantically as he tried to catch his breath.

"Ah! Greetings, Chosen! I hope you are well! How may I be of service?" the man wheezed. Caleb twisted a lock of hair around one finger in annoyance.

"I'm here to collect an elven artifact. It's a crest with the staff of Martel engraved on it. According to my data, the crest was found in the Holy Ground of Kharlan and sent here for study. _Where_ is it?" he demanded evenly. Bethrum winced and fidgeted nervously.

"F-forgive my stupidity, Chosen... but I had it thrown out. You see, what happened was..." he began. Caleb exploded in outrage.

"You threw it away! How can you throw something as important as Orator's crest into a trash heap!" he shrieked. The staff scattered at that moment and Bethrum whimpered, sweat running down his face.

"I didn't know it was important! Really! Oh, do please forgive me! I'll make a large donation to the Church of Martel!" the professor pleaded.

"It's the Church of Conscience, and attend it now and then. You look like you need a wake up call." Caleb growled at him. The man nodded, then lit up.

"W-wait! I remember the bazaar shopkeeper was snooping around the trash heap that day when the rubbish was tossed out! He might have it!" he stammered, "Why not interrogate him?"

"Fine, and next time be more careful with ancient relics!" Caleb snapped and stormed out, still gripping the mask in his fist.

The bazaar was turning in a profit, selling used supplies and books at high prices to desperate students. After waiting in line, the doll gave the shopkeeper an intimidating glare.

"I'm looking for a crest with the staff of Martel on it. I heard you might have picked up from the Museum's trash pile." he began in a low voice, "So, I'm only going to say this once. Where is it, and give it to me." The keeper paled and moaned slightly.

"Oh, not again. This is the _second_ time you've picked on me!" he whined, "I don't have the crest! I picked it up, yeah, but I sold that thing already!"

"To whom!" Caleb demanded, "The Chosen wants an answer!"

"Ah, a woman who wanted a gift for her brother! He's a student in the academy!"

"That doesn't narrow it down! How much money will you lose if I shut this place down for the rest of the week?" Caleb threatened.

"Ah, ah! A half-elf! He's a half-elf student! Little kid with white hair!" the shopkeeper wailed, "I remember it now! The woman was babbling on about everything else I had in stock!"

"Genis and Raine? You _sold_ Orator's crest to two of the Heroes of Union!" Caleb cried in disbelief. The shopkeeper sniffled.

"I gave them a damn good discount on it, too." he answered defensively. Caleb whirled around and ran off, hoping he would be able to find the little half-elf in the crowd of rushing students.

"Genis! Genis Sage!" Caleb called out into the crowd, one hand holding his hat firmly in place, the other shoving the mask into a shoulder pack, "Genis! Where are you!" After not getting much of a response from the mass of students, the doll tried scanning them with telescopic vision, trying to pick out a young boy with wild white hair. "Genis!"

"Zelos?" a voice questioned and he spun in surprise, tripping and falling when he was thrown off balance by the lack of up close sight. He blinked and looked up at Genis Sage, the half-elf best friend of Lloyd. The boy was holding several books in his arms and giving him a strange look. "Oh, it's Caleb! Caleb, what are you doing here?" he amended after taking in the green and white suit.

"Genis, I've been looking for you!" the doll remarked with a relieved smile, "I need your help."

"Follow me to my dorm. We can talk there without you getting jumped by more of Zelos' fans. They're too busy now to notice your face, but once the shops are closed, you're open game." the half-elf remarked with a grin and turned to walk away. Caleb jumped up and followed quickly, pulling the brim of his hat down to hide his face from view.

Genis shared a room with another student, a human who often forgot Genis was half-elven and frequently asked for stories about the World Reunification quest. He was now sitting on his bed in awe as Genis let Caleb into the room.

"It's the Chosen of Tethe'alla! Here! In our dorm!" the boy whispered in wonder.

"No, this is the other one I told you about, Jase. This is Caleb, the automatic doll that Altessa built. He helped us rescue Zelos from Derris-Kharlan over a year and a half ago." Genis corrected and turned to Caleb, "This is Jase, my roommate. He's a nice guy, once you learn which foods are his favorite."

"All of them!" Jase chipped in brightly, pushing his glasses up his nose as they slipped down.

"So, what can I help you with?" Genis asked as he sat down on a soft white couch. Caleb sat across from him and explained everything that had happened to him since they had last seen each other. Both boys listened to him intently, one fascinated with the story, the other absorbing the news somberly.

"...And now I have to find Orator's crest to bring him back to life! I tracked it all the way to you, Genis." Caleb finished.

"Never heard of mana beasts before." Jase murmured as Genis sat back and shook his head.

"That's hard to believe, Caleb, but you do sound different. A doll with a soul... cool... So, this mana beast crest... why do you think I have it?" the half-elf asked. Caleb described it and the sequence of events that led him to the boy. "Oh, that? I've still got it. I spend my free time trying to decipher the words that surround the staff symbol." Genis got up and went to his bed, crawling down under it. After a moment, he backed up and dragged out the book-sized shield. He wiped off the dust and walked back to Caleb, holding it out. "Here. If it will help save the mana beasts, take it. Bring Pepper by for a visit; she sounds like a nice creature!" Genis added brightly. Caleb accepted the crest.

"Thank you, Genis! And I'll bring her by when she learns to fly, I promise!" the doll told him with a smile. Genis chuckled and waved as Caleb headed for the door. "I have to run now, thanks a lot! Bye, Genis! Bye, Jase! Good luck in school!"


	5. Chapter 5

Ch 5

The trip back to the Yggdrasill Tree wasn't any less urgent than the trip to Sybak. Caleb knew he'd been lucky. The crest didn't have to wind up exchanging hands within the city. He muttered a thanks to Martel for influencing its path even in her deep slumber during her time in the Great Seed. The farmers yelled again when Caleb cut through their fields once more, but he was already on his way into Gaoracchia Forest by the time they decided to do anything about it.

"Shouldn't be more than a couple of days now. If I push it a little more..." Caleb murmured and yelled as something within the engine of the Elemental Carriage suddenly exploded, sending the vehicle careening into a tree. "Yow! The crystal!" he exclaimed once everything had settled and he could see he wasn't damaged. He squirmed free of the crushed metal and crawled out of the carriage with the crest tucked into his pack. He stood there for a minute, eyeing the damage the carriage had taken, then sighing in despair.

"That's not fair! How am I going to get to the Mana Tree now?" he asked aloud and looked around himself, "So much for magitechnology being infallible. I'm just glad it wasn't my mana crystal that broke this time!" Caleb scratched his head and sighed again. "Martel, can you hear me?" he whispered softly, concentrating on his sister's image, "Tabatha!"

_"I'm here, Caleb. What's wrong? Did you find the crest?"_ the goddess' voice answered.

"Yes, but I'm stuck in the forest. I crashed the Elemental Carriage. Is it possible to teleport me to you?" the doll asked.

_"I'll do one better. I'll send for help."_ Martel replied,_ "Look above you."_ Caleb did as he was told and blinked as a mint-green mana beast descended from on high, shredding away a hole in the forest canopy with Wind Blade spells. It landed and squawked at him._ "Ride on his back. He'll bring you here."_

"_Ride!_ On a flying mana beast!" Caleb cried in a shrill voice, imagining himself falling off to his doom once he got airborne.

_"Hurry!"_ Martel urged and the doll sighed again, climbing on and praying for a quick end if he met it. The mana beast waited until he had a good grip on the fur, then leaped upwards, pushing off as the wind swept under its wings for lift off.

"Aahhhh! Now I know I wouldn't have made a good angel!" Caleb wailed as the GaleForce mana beast sped towards the Yggdrasill Tree.

* * *

Pepper bounded about, clacking eagerly as the mana beast carrying Caleb touched down. Martel hurried towards the doll as Pepper cheered his return, having grown larger over the past few days he'd been gone. Caleb squeaked and slid off the mana beast's back, wobbling on the ground as he tried to get his sense of balance back.

"It's good to see you're all right!" Martel exclaimed, forgetting herself as she threw her arms around him in a hug, "I thought you might have gotten hurt when you told me about that crash!"

"I'm okay! I got the crest!" Caleb assured her, unsure whether to hug her back or not. Martel pulled away and clasped her hands together, eyes shining.

"Orator! I'll have you back soon, old friend!" she breathed in joy and held out her hands, "Please, let me have the crest." The doll reached into his pack and pulled it free, placing it in Martel's grasp. "Now, to call Origin and Maxwell. They'll recreate his body, I'll place the crest around his neck and then call his soul from the Yggdrasill Tree. Orator will be reborn!"

She walked away to summon the two Spirits, leaving Caleb to catch up on what Pepper was learning about. She had grown to the size of an average horse and could stand eye to eye with him now. He smiled and stroked her snout, happy to be reunited with his friend.

"Did you learn to fly?" Caleb asked and smiled wider when the young mana beast nodded eagerly, "That's great! Can you show me? I have a friend in Sybak who would love to meet you!" Pepper clacked, then turned and leaped into the air, wings pumping as she climbed up to circle the giant tree. Caleb looked up at her, happy to see her flying freely, but also feeling saddened at the thought that such freedom would one day lead her to leaving him. She landed neatly and clacked, wings still flapping open in display. "That was great. Thank you." he told her and meant it.

A pair of brilliant white flashes of light caught his attention and Caleb looked over to see the Summon Spirits Origin and Maxwell suddenly appear before Martel and the Mana Tree. Martel motioned to Caleb to join her and he nodded, walking up with Pepper following behind, whistling to herself. Origin had two of his arms folded over his broad chest as always, the other pair at his sides and ready to grab for his spears at any time. Maxwell sat on his half-globe, bent over his large book in study. Of the two most powerful Spirits, only Origin gave Caleb a nod of acknowledgment.

"Ah, hello, Origin." Caleb murmured hesitantly, "Um, hello, Maxwell." The King of Summon Spirits remained silent, studying him; Maxwell glanced at him with a nod, then returned to his book. Martel smiled as Caleb gave her a helpless look.

"Oh, don't worry. They're just confused about why I called them here and they didn't want to show it." she explained gently, "Go ahead and talk to them; I'm not quite ready to put things together."

"Okay." Caleb stammered and looked up at Origin, "Um, so... how have you been?"

"I've been worse. I'm alive and free to live my life while bound in service to Sheena and Lloyd. It could have been worse." the Spirit replied dryly. Caleb laughed nervously.

"That's true. Ah, speaking of Lloyd and Sheena, how are they? I've run into Genis and he's been doing well. What about the others?" he asked. Origin looked slightly chagrined.

"The Heroes of Union are well, but Lloyd... He, Kratos and Zelos are all currently in Iselia, recovering from a recent... misunderstanding... on Derris-Kharlan." he answered vaguely. Caleb blinked in confusion and shook his head.

"What? What happened? I thought they were just going to be up there for a few weeks, scattering the Exspheres to the stars as dust. What could possibly have happened up there?" he pressed as Pepper walked up and took a sniff at him, curious. Origin absent-mindedly pet her head.

"I'd rather not say. It was... disturbing..." he trailed and Caleb chose to drop the subject, despite the worry and curiosity that gnawed away at them. "They're recovering and doing well at it. That's all I can say about it. However, Lloyd is fairly eager to continue his journey to collect Exspheres. There are still many left in this world." Origin assured him and finally smiled as Pepper nuzzled into his hand with a cheerful clack. "This youngster is rather affectionate."

"This is Peppermint, Pepper for short. I raised her from a hatchling when I rescued her as an egg from some raiders in NeOzette." Caleb jumped at the opportunity for a new subject. "She's really sweet, especially if she knows you have fruit on hand."

"So, the mana beasts are returning to the world." Maxwell finally remarked, floating over to examine Pepper. He stroked his beard and eyed the creature carefully. "This one's a half-breed. Nice one, too. Most Ascension clan mana beasts have a hard time with refining their attack abilities. A little FireBlossom in her won't be so bad."

"Half-breeds are common among mana beasts?" Caleb asked. Maxwell shook his head.

"No, not really, not in the old days at least. Nowadays, half-breeds are popping up more and more often. Mana beasts have no sense of discrimination, so it doesn't matter to them whether she's pure-bred or not." he pointed out, "Don't worry about it."

"All right. I'm ready." Martel announced and stepped before the two Summon Spirits. Caleb moved back and whistled, calling Pepper to him. He had practiced whistling for Pepper when she was young, but it wasn't until he brought her to Martel that she learned the whistle was meant to get her to come over to him. "Origin, Maxwell, you now know that the mana beasts have returned to Symphonia." Martel began to say to the two Spirits, "Recently, however, raiders have begun to steal the eggs from the nests. This cannot go on much longer. It was a miracle, not of my making I assure you, that Caleb received one and allowed it to live, with Peppermint standing here as proof."

"I think I know where this is going. Orator no longer stands beside you, and he would have been able to handle this incident had he survived the Kharlan War." Maxwell remarked with an elderly chuckle and stroked his beard again. Martel nodded.

"Correct. I want to revive Orator, but I need you both to make his body. Without a replica of his old body, Orator's soul will become blank when it enters the body. Just like the soul that I gave to my brother, Caleb." she affirmed, "I've made contact with Orator within the tree. Caleb has retrieved the crest that he wore. All that's left is the body."

"I see. To preserve the remaining mana beasts, we will recreate Orator and see him walk with you once more." Origin agreed and turned to face the other Summon Spirit. "Maxwell, let us begin."

"You have to be so formal about it?" the old man muttered and concentrated. Caleb watched in fascination as mana seemed to collect from every source around them, from earth, wind, water, fire; from the tree, the other mana beasts, Martel and even himself. Sunlight, shadows, time and space, mana pooled together in the very air before them. A shape formed, a mana beast far larger than the adults Caleb had seen so far. The shape solidified, with all features and markings in place.

It was big, Caleb could imagine two people comfortably riding on its back. Large brown wings with black feathertips folded along its back, its body also brown with a series of black stripes running horizontally down from its head to its tail, fading as it reached its belly, which was devoid of fur and had cream-colored scales from just below its snout to the base of its tail. Similar stripes decorated its legs and it had massive paws. It had a stern-looking face and black-tipped brown ears on its head. Caleb swallowed. If this was Orator, then those raiders would definitely think twice about coming back for more eggs after meeting him once!

Origin began focusing on the finished body and Caleb wondered what he would contribute to the mana beast form. The stern face began to soften, taking on a noble expression, one usually found on the faces of wizened men. Both Summon Spirits then turned to Martel.

"It's finished. His body is complete, exactly as it had been before his death." Maxwell remarked. Origin nodded sagely.

"His mind is primed to receive his knowledge, wisdom, and his memories. He will be able to retain everything he knew during the age when war tore through the world." the King of Summon Spirits added.

"Caleb, please place this crest around his neck." Martel suddenly said, handing the shield and thick cord to the doll. Caleb looked surprised.

"Me? Why me?" he asked in confusion.

"You were the one who went out in search of it. It is through your efforts that we will have Orator as he was long ago. I'd like for you to have the honor of placing my crest on him." Martel told him with a gentle smile. Caleb swallowed and nodded, accepting the crest and walking up to the still form that now lay between Origin Maxwell. He slipped the cord over the beast's head and settled the shield between its paws. "Now, for the final piece." Martel whispered with barely contained joy. She lifted her staff and closed her eyes. "Orator, come forth and reclaim your form! Walk with me once again!"

Caleb watched as a shining light emerged from the tree and began to float down towards them. He remembered when he received his own soul, and how much different the world seemed to be once he could truly think on his own. Everything before that moment seemed almost like a dream, as if his old self was someone totally separate from who he was now.

The light drifted down and vanished into the body. Everyone waited anxiously as time passed. Eventually, the form began to shift and the eyes opened slowly, the dark brown looking a little lost and groggy. He lifted the front half of his body as if he hadn't moved in ages, which was technically true, and gazed up at Martel.

"Is the war... over?" he asked her in clear human language, his voice a soft rumble, like pebbles running through someone's hands. Caleb cried in surprise, stepping back.

"It can _talk_!" he exclaimed. The mana beast looked at him in confusion, then returned to Martel. She knelt before him with tears in her eyes and a gentle smile.

"Orator, dear friend... the war has been over for more than four thousand years." she answered. Orator reared back in shock, nearly stumbling as he tried to regain use of his legs too quickly.

"Wh-what! Why had I not been made aware of this?" he cried and looked around, "The Kharlan Tree still stands, but what is all this rubble? Had the war breached even this sacred meadow, Spirit of Mana? And what's become of my brethren?"

"Much has changed, Orator. Rest, now, and I will explain it all to you." Martel told him and hugged him, placing her cheek against his snout gently. "It is so good to have you back."

"Our work is done. We will return to Sheena's service." Origin murmured, "But it truly is good to have you alive again, Orator."

"Don't get too noble! Have fun now and then!" Maxwell laughed in his elderly booming voice and both Summon Spirits vanished. Caleb shook his head, still baffled. He looked at Pepper, who only clacked softly at having his attention return to her.

"You heard him talk in human language, right?" he asked her. She smiled and nibbled at his ear, her way of telling him that he hadn't been hearing things.


	6. Chapter 6

Ch 6

Morning came and Caleb went out of his small stone house to see Orator standing just outside, watching him from a short distance away. He waved nervously and whistled for Pepper, who was playing near the base of the tree. She bounded over happily, followed by Martel with another armful of fruit and several adult mana beasts.

"She's ready for her final transformation. With this, she will be strong enough to carry you on her back, along with a light pack of supplies." Martel told him. Caleb blinked.

"But, won't she be staying here with all of you once she's reached that stage?" he asked in confusion. The adult mana beasts all looked at one another, then Pepper's father stepped forward to speak. Martel translated.

"Peppermint was hatched and raised by the non-human called Caleb and calls him friend. Because she is my daughter, she will have the clan name FireBlossom, but as she was hatched outside of the clan, she is not duty-bound to our ways." she murmured, "As such we now declare Peppermint FireBlossom free of our clans and the companion to Caleb. The non-human shall be her guardian and protect her as she will protect him. May you both be blessed in your lives and be filled with the light of mana." Caleb remained unchanged in his confusion.

"What does that mean?" he asked as Orator stepped up to the group, his crest resting against his breastbone.

"It means that Peppermint is free of any responsibility to the clans and their duties, and can continue to travel with you." he clarified, "Martel has told me everything she knows about what has happened to the world since my passing, and why you are here today." Caleb lit up and turned to Martel.

"Really! Pepper can stay with me!" he exclaimed. The group all nodded their heads collectively. "Thank you so much! Pepper, we can be together now! You can stay with me!" The young mana beast clacked in pleasure and nuzzled his cheek. "I'm so glad I don't have to lose your friendship..." he added softly, stroking her snout. He fed her the Mana Fruit and watched her light up, growing large enough to stand over him. She fanned her wings out and lifted them up, crying out in joy at her full grown body. Caleb smiled proudly up at her, glad to know that she would always stand beside him now.

"Now, for those raiders." Orator murmured, "The others will be leaving for their duties in a few minutes. Since you've been gone in search of my crest, they had returned and stolen several more eggs." He studied Caleb carefully. "We will follow your trail to their hideout and reclaim the stolen eggs. Then we will lie in wait for them to return." he told the doll.

"You want me to come along?" the redhead asked in surprise.

"Yes. Martel will also join us, as she is the only one among us with the power to transport the eggs here. Pepper will remain here to keep the eggs warm." Orator confirmed, "Since you are the only one who knows who is truly responsible for these atrocities, I need you to come along and identify him."

"Her." Caleb corrected before realizing it. Orator looked mildly surprised, fur lifting around his neck slightly and wings unfolding just a bit.

"Oh? Her? How odd. All right." he remarked, not put off in the least. "Well, let us be off then. Climb on." He settled down on the grass and waited patiently as Caleb drew up the courage to climb onto his back. Once he was set comfortably, Martel reached up towards him. Caleb caught on and pulled her up. She sat before him, cooing gently to Orator as Caleb looked around for something to hold onto, then sighed and placed his hands on the goddess' waistline. Orator stood and began walking towards the forest.

* * *

"Martel illuminated my footsteps with mana dust earlier, so they shouldn't be visible to those who don't use magic. I run off of a mana crystal and my optic sensors can detect mana dust, so I'm an exception to the rule, I guess." Caleb pointed out as they searched for the path. Orator nodded and scanned the ground. They picked up the trail and the mana beast began following it. "Hey, Orator. Why exactly are you called that anyway?" the doll added as a way of passing time.

"My name is my title. I am able to speak human language because Origin and Maxwell thought it would be well if the Spirit of Mana had a companion she could converse with and translate for her when it came to handling matters with the other mana beast clans." Orator remarked, "I was her companion, her friend, and I was often sent to meet with other humans ahead of her as a way of... warming up the people to her impending presence."

"So you are to Martel what Pepper is to me?" Caleb asked.

"Ah, yes, that seems about right. Actually, that's it exactly. If she is your close companion and someone you trust and love, then yes, that's definitely it." Orator answered and stopped suddenly. "Is this the cave?" Caleb looked over Martel's shoulder.

"Yeah! That's it!" he cried and slid down from Orator's back to run inside, "The eggs are all still here!" Martel waited until the mana beast had knelt for her to dismount, then hurried after him, her staff clutched in both hands. Orator followed them in after studying the area carefully.

"Thank goodness." Martel whispered as she looked around, "It doesn't look like any of them have hatched yet." Caleb studied a few of the sacks.

"No, but they're about to. Get them back to the nests, Martel!" he exclaimed, spinning to face her in a panic. The goddess lifted her staff, closing her eyes. She murmured silent words and the contents of the cave disappeared along with her, returning to the safety and sanctity of the meadow around the Yggdrasill Tree.

"Now the two of us shall wait here for the humans to come. Then I will speak with them about this matter." Orator commented as he scratched out a place for himself to settle into. Caleb blinked at him, unsure what to think, then shrugged and sat against the cave wall, closing his eyes as he thought about how he was going to make the stall for Pepper bigger without driving Altessa up the wall about it.

Caleb snapped to attention at the sound of Orator standing up, his claws scraping against the cave floor. He looked around, lost on what time it was as the mana beast looked down at him.

"They've finally shown up. You've slept through the last two days, Caleb." Orator remarked. The doll blinked and stood quickly, rubbing his head.

"Ah, sorry. I must have needed a serious recharge then." he muttered and jumped at the sounds of several other people entering the cave.

"Okay, this time for sure we'll rake in lots of gald selling these eggs to the Royal Chefs!" a woman declared. The group of humans reached the room where Orator and Caleb stood waiting, and froze.

"That's her. She's the ringleader." Caleb said after a long moment of silence. The violet-haired woman looked around in a panic as the other humans finally registered what they were looking at.

"Ah! Ah! A monster! It's one of those monsters! It's gonna eat us!" they screamed and raced out of the caves.

"H-hey! Wait for me!" the woman cried and turned to flee. Orator dashed forward and blocked the exit, glowering at her as she fell back in terror, "Please! Don't kill me! I'll give back the eggs! I swear!"

"We've already reclaimed the eggs. We've only come for you." he growled and the woman screamed again, "And stop that nonsensical wailing! It will do you no good and it rather annoys me. I'm sure my comrade there will say the same." The woman turned her gaping eyes to Caleb, who only shrugged.

"He's right, you know. It is kinda irritating." he agreed with a smile. Orator reached out while she was distracted and grabbed her by the collar with his teeth. The woman went into another fit, kicking, screaming and twisting around madly. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." Caleb added. The woman either ignored him, or didn't hear, and continued her terrified tirade.

"This isn't working." Orator managed to say through his teeth and looked distant. The woman went on yelling, then began to calm down, growing more quiet and still until she finally went limp. "Ah, that's better."

"What did you do to her?" Caleb asked, eyes wide with shock. The mana beast turned and began to walk out of the cave.

"I gave her mind a very compelling suggestion that sleep might not be such a bad idea right now." Orator answered through a mouthful of cloth. Caleb jogged to catch up to him and they walked back to the Yggdrasill Tree together.

In the clearing, everyone gathered to watch the woman wake up to see where she wound up. As soon as she recognized more mana beasts were surrounding her, she began screaming again. Martel set her face and stepped forward, slamming her staff into the ground.

"That's quite enough!" she told the woman harshly, "As far as I've been told you've done nothing but scream this entire day!" The woman stared at her. "And no, I'm not here to save you." the goddess added in irritation, "Seek salvation within yourself; I'm just the Guardian of the Mana Tree."

"Woman, you have committed grave offense to every clan represented here by their clan leaders." Orator rumbled and the woman screamed again in shock before going quiet under his withering glare. "You don't seem to understand how little I care about your vocal power." he grumbled, "Now, you are to be judged and sentenced by the collected power of the clans. Your crimes are theft and trespassing on sacred land. You've stolen numerous eggs and sentenced young mana beast lives to almost certain death. The punishment for bringing harm to any egg is the offering of life in exchange for life."

"Wh-what is this? A bad dream?" the woman whimpered, "You... you aren't really going to kill me, are you? Over a bunch of eggs?" The mana beasts conferred in their own language, alternately looking at each other for agreement and looking at the woman with expressionless faces. Caleb watched worriedly as they talked on. He knew what the woman had done was wrong in so many ways, but he still felt bad for pointing her out now. If she was killed as punishment for her crimes, he would be responsible for bringing her before the mana beasts for judgment. He looked at the ground, worry filling his mind.

"Martel, I don't think this goes along with Lloyd's ideals." he finally muttered, "Isn't this going to spawn new hate and new revenge, like Lloyd said?"

"Patience, little brother, and you will see why I often sent him forward to consult with humans and elves before I appear." Martel told him with a small smile.

The clan leaders finally nodded in agreement and spoke to Orator, who nodded and turned to the woman.

"The clans have decided on your judgment and sentence." he told her. The ringleader of the egg-stealing scheme blinked, eyes wide as she began shaking fearfully. "You have been found guilty of all crimes put forth by the clans. Your life is now forfeit." The woman wailed again, covering her head with her hands as she sobbed pitifully.

"Martel..." Caleb moaned softly.

"Oh, don't give me that, woman!" Orator grumbled, "Such a drama queen... Your life is forfeit, but that doesn't mean you're going to die!" The woman stopped wailing and blinked up at him in confusion.

"I'm... not?" she echoed faintly. Orator shook his head.

"And what would we do with a dead woman's body in this meadow? It's an insult to all that we stand for!" he exclaimed incredulously, "Really, you have to learn to get over yourself. Your life is forfeit in service to the clans whose eggs were stolen in your schemes." He waved a paw towards the nests. "From now until the end of your days, you will live here in service to the clans. You will help raise the surviving hatchlings and take care of the sick, injured and elderly. You will never leave this meadow, nor will you need to as everything you will need to live on will be provided here." Orator declared, "And sensing that you are a half-elf and not a human woman as our friend Caleb thought, you will be in service for quite a long while."

"Half-elf? Really?" Caleb remarked in surprise, "I guess I should ask Master Altessa for an upgrade regarding my mana-detection device. Or at least a new one entirely." He looked over at Martel. "They never planned on killing her, huh? Orator certainly is a very wise and intelligent creature, isn't he?" Martel nodded cheerfully.

"Is... that all? I'm going to be your slave for the rest of my life?" the half-elven woman remarked in shock. Orator raised an eyebrow.

"Well, no, not a slave. We don't really have a need for slaves. You'll be a baby-sitter of sorts. The adults need to go out and spread mana to the world, helping the Mana Tree continue reviving the world. The hatchlings need someone around to play with them, feed them, take care of them... all that motherly attention and whatnot." he clarified.

"You might need this." Caleb added brightly, handing the woman Pepper's old ball, "I've been meaning to buy her a new one anyway."

"I suggest getting some rest. You start in the morning." Orator remarked and pointed at the stone house the MudPuppy clan built for Caleb, "You can use that house."

The woman left for the little house, still numb with what she had just gone through, the clan leaders all left to tend to their nests, and Caleb was left with Pepper, Orator and Martel.

"Thank you for your help, Caleb. I really appreciate it." Martel told him with a smile, "If it hadn't been for you coming when you did, we may never have found out what had been happening, or revived Orator to stop it."

"It was no trouble at all. Well, I'll be heading home now..." Caleb replied and smiled up at Pepper, who clacked happily, "With Pepper. I still can't believe she'll be coming back with me!" He waved his good-byes as Pepper knelt to let him onto her back. Caleb looked surprised, then laughed cheerfully as he climbed on. "Thank you, Pepper! Well, home we go!" Pepper clacked and leaped skyward, wings beating the wind to carry them both home. Orator and Martel watched them fly away.

"He's a very funny person." Orator remarked at last. Martel only shook her head with a smile.

"I expect nothing less from my brother." she affirmed.


	7. Epilogue

Epilogue

"Master Altessa! We're home!" Caleb called out cheerfully as he leaped through the doorway, "I'll need to borrow some tools again to widen Pepper's stall! She's gotten really big!" Altessa walked out of his workshop, a small welding device in one hand.

"I see you are well. It's been more than a week." he commented. Caleb nodded as he set his pack down on the table.

"I know. I'm sorry for that, too. I'll get right to work on my chores!" he apologized. Altessa shook his head.

"No, I need you in my workshop. Maintenance check." he told the doll and returned to the workshop. Caleb looked confused, but obeyed and followed him. The worktable that had been used to build him was clear and the specific tools needed were laid out in preparation.

"Is there something wrong, Master Altessa? You seem... preoccupied." the doll asked worriedly as he climbed onto the table.

"It is nothing I can't handle. Now, I'll need to suspend your mana crystal power conduits in order to do the upgrade." Altessa went on, opening the cavity that held the mana crystal within the doll.

"Upgrade? But, you said it was..." Caleb began and stopped when Altessa pulled on the tiny set of feeding lines that forced the state of suspended animation. The doll's eyes faded to dullness and he lay still, stretched out on the table as frozen as the day he was first created.

"With this, you will no longer be bound to me." the dwarf whispered and set to work, looking once more at the two additional mana crystals that were set aside just for this day.

"...just a... check?" Caleb finished his sentence sometime later, staring up at the ceiling in confusion. He sat up and winced, hand going up to press against his chest. "Owww. What's... this? I feel strange." Altessa was packing a few tools into a small pouch, then slid them into Caleb's pack.

"The feeling will pass. It's just your body trying to get you adjusted to the Tri-Crystal System I installed." the dwarf told him. He handed the pack to the doll and picked up two more items from his desk. "This is the third Sorcerer's Ring ever created, and this is the refitted Elemental Cargo, capable of sailing on water." Altessa gave both the ring and the wing pack to the doll. "Use them well."

"Ah, all right." Caleb murmured, still confused, "What will I need them for?"

"Altessa, is everything ready?" a new voice called out. Altessa picked up a second travel pack, already stuffed with belongings. The two of them went into the main room to meet the newcomer.

"Good day, Yuan. Yes, I'm ready. Let me just brief Caleb." the dwarf told the blue-haired half-elf standing patiently in the room.

"All right. And can someone tell me what that creature is, standing outside and peeking in here?" Yuan asked.

"That's Pepper. My friend. She's a mana beast." Caleb told him. Yuan furrowed his eyebrows.

"Mana beast? ...Something tells me I don't want to ask." he muttered to himself.

"Master Altessa, what's going on? Who is he? Where are we going?" Caleb turned his attention back to the dwarf, growing more confused by the minute. Altessa sighed heavily.

"I'm going on a journey with Dirk to teach our skills to dwarves around the world. There are few of them left because of Cruxis, and their skills are severely lacking." the dwarf told the doll, "And in this journey, I must go alone. I cannot take you with me."

"What?" Caleb whispered in shock, stunned by what he was now hearing, "Y-you're _abandoning_ me?"

"I'm releasing you from service. Now that I am fully recovered from my injuries, I don't have need of a servant. You've always had the choice to be free, but you never took it because of me." Altessa went on, "The Tri-Crystal System was developed to give you that true freedom from me. You have a primary crystal, a secondary crystal that is smaller than the first and will act as an emergency power source should the primary fail, and a third crystal for free use." The dwarf held out a pair of crystals, one was the usual size Caleb ran off of, cut with six sides to it. The other was thinner, cut with four sides. "Your secondary is also tied to your peripheral devices, such as your illuminated optics and mana detection sensors. The free use mana crystal is the same size and strength as your primary crystal."

"That's too much power in me. What am I to do with that much extra energy?" Caleb asked, sorrow welling up within him as he held his pack tightly.

"I've adjusted your system setup to use it in a new way if you choose to follow such a path." Altessa explained, "Caleb, you will be my greatest creation... an automated doll who can cast magic."

"_Magic!_" Caleb cried, "_Me!_ Only those of elven blood can cast magic!"

"And those who have aionis within their bodies and enough mana to use the spells. I built you with an aionis based alloy, and with an extra mana crystal of that size, you will be able to cast magic." Altessa corrected, "I've included a small book on basic spells in your pack."

"What if I run out of power in my primary crystal? I can't run on a small crystal for very long!"

"Pepper is a mana beast. She can recharge your crystals by pulling mana from around her and sending it into the crystal. Martel told me about her abilities. With her beside you, you will never have need of energy."

"What if it breaks!"

"Pepper can also repair and reform mana crystals. You now have the tools necessary to switch out crystals as needed on your own. You won't need to be held in suspended animation for such operations ever again." Altessa told him, "You are completely independent now, so stop trying to find ways out of it!"

"_But what am I supposed to do on my own!_" Caleb yelled in a panic, "I've been your servant all this time! I don't know any other life!"

"You are an advanced automatic doll, and as such you are capable of acquiring and retaining vast amounts of information and data." Yuan pointed out quietly, "You can travel the world gathering information on everything about this world, its history, cultures, plants and animals. Mithos destroyed the true history of this world and there is almost nothing left to tell us about the time before the Kharlan War. If something should happen to Symphonia again, you may be our only hope of recovering lost knowledge."

"Me?" Caleb murmured in a tiny voice.

"This cave is now yours to do with as you wish. You may continue to live comfortably here as a recluse, or you may travel the world on a quest of your own, the choices are endless and all yours to make." Altessa added, "I'm leaving now, Caleb. Your life is truly yours. Do well with it." With that he turned and followed Yuan outside to a Rheaird waiting for him. Caleb raced outside in time to see both men fly away into the air.

"Wait! Master Al-tess-a!" he cried and stood numbly as they became little more than specks in the sky. For a moment he hoped that they would return, say it was only a horrid joke and that Altessa still needed him for something or other. But, no, they were gone, and he was left alone, save for Pepper standing by and cocking her head, looking as lost as he felt. "What am I to do now?" Caleb whispered and blinked as his vision seemed to blur. Reaching up, he touched his cheeks and stared in shock at the droplets of water sitting on his fingertips, "Tears? I have tears now? Altessa, did you give me the ability to cry as well?" He searched his pack and found a folded note tucked inside.

_"'This letter is all I can use to tell you that I will truly miss you. You've been a wonderful companion and a good friend. I will think of you often as I make my journey. I am proud of you. Always.'"_ Caleb read silently and packed the note away. He looked over at the house, then at Pepper, who grew bored of the whole thing and was now chewing at the fur on her rump to smooth it out. "Pepper, what do you think? Do you want to stay here or go traveling some more?" he asked. Pepper lifted her head to look at him, an expression that read along the lines of _'Hey, wherever you go, I go. We're the package deal!'_ He smiled brightly, wiping away the tears that were still a bit of a shock.

"All right then. I like the idea of collecting information. I learned a lot about mana beasts, things that not even a half-elf knew! Not even Genis!" Caleb began, "So, I'll go out and learn lots more about Symphonia, everything that's in the world and around it! Then, I can tell others about what I've learned and that knowledge will help people understand each other and the world." He walked up and stroked Pepper's snout cheerfully. "And since the two of us will be untouched by time, we'll be able to protect and save that knowledge for future generations." he added and pumped his fist into the air, "Let's go on a journey of our own, Pepper! To save the knowledge of the world!" Pepper whistled and clacked, jumping around joyfully. "To Sybak, and the libraries and museums it has to offer!" Caleb declared and turned to lock up the house.

The End


End file.
